Cataract Surgery in Los Cabos: A Guide for U.S. and Canadian Patients
What visitors and part-year residents of Los Cabos should know about cataract surgery here: timing, lens choices, Medicare, follow-up at home and how many nights to plan.
- Operate when the cataract interferes with your life, not when it first shows on an exam.
- Medicare does not normally pay for care outside the United States.
- The lens and the number of nights are both settled before you book.
Many of the people we see for cataracts already spend part of the year in Baja California Sur. Others come specifically for the surgery. Either way the questions are the same, and they are mostly practical.
Is it time?
A cataract is operated on when it interferes with your life: glare that makes night driving uncomfortable, reading that has become a strain, glasses that no longer help. A cataract noted on an exam that does not bother you can simply be watched. There is no benefit in rushing and, in most cases, no harm in waiting a season.
- Glare that makes night driving uncomfortable
- Reading that has become a strain
- New glasses that no longer help
- Colours that look faded
The operation
It is outpatient surgery under anaesthetic drops. The cloudy lens is broken up with ultrasound and removed through an incision of a few millimetres, and a folded intraocular lens is placed in the same session. Stitches are usually unnecessary. Dr. Serrano has performed this operation throughout more than twenty years of practice in San José del Cabo.
Choosing the lens
A monofocal lens focuses at one distance, normally far, with reading glasses for near. A toric lens also corrects astigmatism. Extended-range and multifocal lenses reduce dependence on glasses at more distances, with a higher chance of halos at night. The choice affects the price and is made with you before surgery day, after your eye has been measured.
Medicare and insurance
Medicare does not normally pay for care received outside the United States, and most private plans treat it as out of network at best. Check your own policy. Patients generally pay directly and receive an itemised receipt. For many people the comparison is between the out-of-pocket cost here and their deductible and lens upgrade fees at home.
Insurance rules vary by plan. Ask yours in writing before you travel, and keep the itemised receipt we give you.
One eye or two, and how long to stay
Whether both eyes are done on one trip, and how far apart, depends on your eyes. Dr. Serrano sets that plan at the video evaluation, before you book, so you know the number of nights. Each eye has an in-person check the following day, and you fly only with written clearance.
Follow-up at home
You leave with a written summary, your drops schedule and the week-one visit already arranged with an optometrist in your city. The final glasses prescription, if you need one, is checked about a month after surgery.
Book your evaluation
It all starts with an honest evaluation
- Dr. Serrano reviews your case before any surgery is booked
- Same-day reply on WhatsApp
- Care in English and Spanish